Synopsis
In The Christmas Shoes, young Nathan Andrews was a child who lost his mother to cancer. Now his deepest wish is to become a doctor. When a stranger named Robert gave him the money to buy his mother a pair of shoes for her last Christmas, both Robert and Nathan learned the deepest lessons of love and giving. Now a medical student in his third year, Nathan realizes there are still things to be learned about faith, blessings, and sacrifice. Lessons he will learn from Meghan Sullivan-a young woman born with a hole in her heart that has not kept her from becoming a champion runner. And lessons learned from a young boy named Charlie, who teaches how to live a life of true courage. Together, they will help guide Nathan through the darkest period in his life. The Christmas Blessing is an inspiring about hope existing in the darkest places, and love is always the greatest gift of all.
Publishers Weekly
Van Liere's sequel to the bestselling The Christmas Shoes catches up with Nathan Andrews (the eight-year-old who bought sequined shoes for his dying mother's walk into heaven) in his third year of medical school. Doubting his ability as a doctor and still bitter about his mother's death on Christmas Day years before, Nathan falls for Meghan Sullivan, a young woman in his cardiology rotation who may be suffering from a terminal heart defect. As she languishes, she renews Nathan's faltering faith and sense of purpose in life. He learns again through love the wisdom his mother shared before dying: "each of us is destined for something, a purpose that often seems muddy"; and even when life brings more pain than it should, in the end there is always joy. Van Liere's warm prose transforms what would otherwise be a cliched tearjerker of a Christmas miracle into a cozy, inspirational holiday tale. (Nov.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.